Voice from the Past
by Sparkle731
Summary: A story about Nancy, Hutch's wife that he mentions in the pilot episode. one shot


**VOICE FROM THE PAST**

Ken Hutchinson whistled as he wandered around his apartment watering the plants that covered every available open surface. Tending his plants was one of the ways that he relaxed after a long, stressful day. Very few people in his life were allowed to see this softer, gentler side of the tough, hard nosed street cop.

One of the entitled few was his partner and best friend, David Starsky. Starsky was sitting on the sofa drinking a beer as Hutch cared for his 'jungle'. When the phone on the end table beside him rang, Starsky automatically grabbed the receiver.

"Hutchinson Green house," Starsky quipped brightly.

"Hello? Is Ken there?" an unfamiliar female voice said in his ear.

"Hang on a sec," Starsky said. "Hey, Hutch…it's for you. I don't know who it is but she sure has a sexy voice."

Starsky grinned as Hutch stopped what he was doing and came to the phone. Taking the receiver from Starsky's hand, he said,

"This is Hutch."

"Ken, its Nancy."

"Nancy?" Hutch exclaimed in a startled voice. Quickly recovering his composure,, he asked, "How are you? It's been a long time."

"I'm fine. I'm in town overnight and I was hoping that maybe we could get together and have a drink…just for old time's sake."

"Uh…yeah…sure. There's a place called the Pits on fourth and main. I can meet you there at seven-thirty

."

"Great. See you then."

"That was Nancy. She's in town overnight and wants to have a drink for old time's sake," Hutch said as he slowly hung up the phone.

"Nancy? Like in your ex-wife, Nancy?" Starsky said

"Yeah, how about that?" Hutch chuckled somberly. "I haven't seen her since we were kids and she suddenly decides to call me out of the blue."

"Didn't she marry some big shot lawyer or something?"

"Yeah and the last I heard they had a couple of kids. I guess she finally got the life she always wanted." There was a wistful tone in Hutch's voice that most people wouldn't have noticed but Starsky did.

He had never met Hutch's first wife, Nancy. It had been a brief teenage marriage that had only lasted a few months. A shotgun wedding arranged by two sets of angry parents when Nancy got pregnant their senior year in high school. The pregnancy had ended in a miscarriage and the marriage had died a natural death within a year.

It had been an amicable divorce, unlike Hutch's divorce from wife number two, the vindictive and spiteful Vanessa. They had kept in touch for a while but then they had gone their separate ways when Hutch moved to California to go to UCLA.

Hutch looked at his best friend and said, "Hey, why don't you come with me?"

"I don't wanna intrude on your little reunion," Starsky said "I don't even know the lady."

"Come on…I want you to come. I'm not sure what I have to say to Nancy after all this time. High school seems like a lifetime ago."

"You've both grown up a lot since then."

"Are you gonna come or not?"

"Okay, okay…I'll come. But, if things get too cozy with you two and your walk down memory lane, I'll split." Starsky said.

Hutch smiled gratefully. The truth was he wasn't sure about seeing Nancy again after so many years. They had both known that their marriage was a mistake from the beginning. They didn't love each other, they were simply together because of an unplanned pregnancy that they both felt responsible for. They were both relieved when it was over. At seventeen, neither one of them was ready to be parents. They were still just kids themselves. Still, it had hurt when Nancy lost the baby three months after the wedding. Bound together by their guilt and remorse, they had stayed together for another eight months before finally deciding that they had nothing left to build a life on, at least not together.

Then he had met Vanessa and that disastrous relationship had soured Hutch on marriage entirely. Since his second divorce, he had played the field, enjoying being single again. Although he would've liked to have a family someday, Hutch seriously doubted if he would ever be able to make that kind of commitment for a third time.

Hutch and Starsky arrived at the Pits shortly before seven and settled into a booth near the back of the room. They played a game of pool and had a couple of beers while waiting for Nancy to arrive.

Right on time, the lady in question walked through the door. Nancy was an attractive blonde with a willowy figure and big blue eyes. She walked across the room with the easy grace of a dancer. Hutch smiled warmly and greeted her with a friendly kiss on the cheek.

"It's wonderful to see you again, Nance," he said graciously. "You look terrific."

"You don't look so bad yourself," Nancy replied warmly. "It's been a long time, Ken."

"Too long." Hutch turned to Starsky and said, "Starsk, this is Nancy Freeman…" He looked back at Nancy and introduced Starsky, "Nancy, this is my partner, David Starsky."

"It's nice to meet you, David." Nancy said as she slid into the booth across from the two men. "How long have you and Ken known each other?"

"We went to the academy together and we've been friends ever since. We've been partners now for almost six years." Starsky told her with a crooked smile that always charmed the ladies.

"I've heard that you've done quite well for yourself, Ken. I'm happy for you. You deserve it," Nancy said "I'm glad that you're finally doing what you want to do with your life and not what your father expected you to do."

"Yeah, mom and dad aren't too happy about my career choices but I don't really give a damn," Hutch told her. "Not anymore anyway. From what I hear you haven't done too bad for yourself either."

"I suppose not. I've been lucky. Paul and I are very happy and we have two wonderful children…a boy and a girl."

"I always knew that you'd make a terrific mom," Hutch said

"And you would have made a terrific father," Nancy said "Sometimes…I wish things had turned out differently for us."

"So do I," Hutch admitted. "But, we were just too young to be parents…and we got married for all the wrong reasons."

"We probably would have ended up resenting each other," Nancy said wistfully "So, things worked out for the best…for both of us."

An awkward silence fell between the couple. With the amenities out of the way, neither one of them seemed to know what to say. They were two strangers with a shared piece of history between them.

"I…uh…I'll be right back," Hutch said awkwardly as he rose to his feet. Starsky and Nancy watched as the tall blond made his way through the crowd to the restrooms at the rear of the bar.

Turning her attention to Starsky, Nancy said, "I really am happy for him. He's got a good life."

"Yeah, he does," Starsky agreed.

"I probably shouldn't have come. I just wanted to see him again…but…we don't even have anything in common anymore." Nancy gathered up her things and stood up. "I'm going to go before he gets back." She started to leave and then stopped and turned back to look at Starsky one more time. "Would you do me a favor?"

"Sure,"

"Would you tell him that I named my son Kenny after him?" she said "He just turned twelve…" With those parting words, she turned and walked away, disappearing into the crowd.

Starsky said there with a frown on his brow as he quickly did the math in his head. With a knot in his stomach, he realized that Nancy had either been pregnant when she left Hutch or had gotten pregnant within a few weeks of their divorce.

Starsky swallowed the rest of his beer in one long swallow and signaled the waitress for another. With a heavy sigh, he made a decision that he hoped was the right one. He decided not to give Hutch Nancy's parting message. There was no need to upset him by telling him about a namesake that may or may not be his child. If sometime in the future that decision came back to haunt him, then Starsky was willing to accept the consequences of his actions. In the meantime, it was his job to watch his partner's back, even if that meant protecting him from something that had happened in his past. After all that was what partners and best friends were for.

Hutch approached the table with a puzzled expression on his handsome features. "Where's Nancy?" he asked as he slid into the booth beside his partner.

"She had to go. Something about catching an early flight in the morning," Starsky said.

"I wish I could have said good-bye. It was good to see her again but it wasn't the same…ya know?"

"Yeah, I know. You're two different people now with two different lives." Starsky said. He graced his partner with a grin. "How about another game of pool? Winner pays the tab."

"You're on," Hutch said agreeably as the two friends stood up and walked over to the pool table. Nancy was forgotten as he looked forward to spending the rest of the evening with Starsky.

THE END


End file.
